Michigan Basketball: This Wolverines team feels different

The Michigan basketball team has started out hot and has looked sharp. Even though their schedule has been somewhat soft, this team still feels different.

The Wolverines have raced out to a 9-0 start and could easily be favored in eight of their next nine games. The schedule has been favorable for Michigan basketball during this start, but even with that this team just seems different.

John Beilein did an incredible job with the Wolverines during his time. He led Michigan basketball to two national title games without making huge waves on the recruiting trail.

He took lesser recruits and turned them into great players, but more importantly great players for his system. That system was great shooters from the outside and little to no inside game.

It worked well and Michigan was one of the most successful teams in the tournament because of it. But it also meant that if the Wolverines weren’t hitting their outside shots then they were in trouble.

We knew things were going to be different with Juwan Howard leading the team, but last year seemed to be a lot of the same. The Wolverines need to hit the outside shot to win the game. This year has been completely different.

Why Michigan basketball is different this year

The emergence of Hunter Dickinson has been a huge reason why. The freshman center is leading the team in both points and rebounds. He is shooting a ridiculous 71.8% from the field and about the same from the free-throw line.

Having a big man down low that is reliable makes this team different, but there is so much more to it than that.

Beilein’s teams had fun, but the amount of fun the bench is having this year is contagious. This team truly just wants to win and it appears it doesn’t care who is helping them do that.

Dickinson is getting the headlines but transfers Mike Smith (Columbia) and Chaundee Brown (Wake Forest) have fit in perfectly. Oh, and Franz Wagner is hitting his stride and Eli Brooks is steadily improving his already pretty good play.

We haven’t even got to the leader of this team in Isaiah LIvers. He has struggled at times, but is still a force and has understood when his shot isn’t falling to find the hot guy.

The Michigan teams in the past were prone to long scoring slumps and times when we had no idea where points would come from. There were lineups where scoring was very scarce and you just hoped they could hold the fort for a five minutes stretch.

This year Howard can play a variety of different lineups and not miss a beat on the offensive end. They have shown they don’t need the three to win the game as evidenced by their 11 point win at Maryland when they only hit six shots from deep.

The Wolverines can still knock down the outside shot, but instead of it being their only path to win, it is now their path to blowing a team out.

They have a rough stretch to end the season and the Big Ten is brutal. But for a team that many thought would take a step back, they have actually taken a step forward. And depending on how the rest of the season goes it could be a huge step forward.

The Wolverines look special and don’t look like they will slow down. They won’t go undefeated, but outside of Gonzaga, there isn’t a team playing better.